To be 7 again.....

Seriously, my hubadub does make an incredible effort each year to make my birthday amazing. And he usually succeeds. Zoie has had such a fun, exciting week that I almost want to be a kid again--just for the parties!! We started out at Incredible Pizza where Uncle Brennen earns his gas money on the weekends. He served at her party, which Zo thought was pretty cool. Together with a few friends and family we rode go-carts, played mini-golf, were blown away in the hurricane machine and so many other fun things. Then this morning she had breakfast on her special birthday plate (thanks Nana Janet!), Dizzy the Clown surprised her class with face painting and at lunch time they all had a pizza party. Whew.....busy day 'round here.

Just in case you can't tell, her face painting in a princess crown with a diamond in the middle. Dizzy rocks. :) Happy 7th birthday to my sweet, baby girl. We love you so.

Thanksgiving

Another year has come and gone and Thanksgiving 2011 is upon us. This year we decided that our lives have been crazy enough that we could use a little family time to reconnect and celebrate our blessings. So, to the disapproval of our many families, we chose to stay home this year, snuggle in and enjoy the holiday with our babies. Even though we won't be traveling ALL across the state to gather with family, I am aware and amazed by the blessings that the Lord has granted us. So I am thankful. Thankful for this beautiful baby girl who has grown into such a beautiful young lady right before my eyes. Although I want nothing more than the best for her, I could stand to slow down time a little and enjoy those blue eyes a little longer. Zoie has brought us such joy and happiness and, together, she showed me how to be a mother. She has taught me to laugh more often, take delight in an occasional pretend cup of tea and to realize that while she is my "barbie doll" I have to let her find her own personality and style.

My thanks would never be complete without two of the most important people in my life observed. I'm thankful that my Gramsy continues to flip the bird to that ugly disease we call cancer. She is a survivor through and through. And Gramps...I'm thankful that he is the toughest old bird you've ever seen. He can be trampled by a cow, thrown from a tractor, live through a stroke or two, and come back from what we thought might be the end for him this year. They just simply don't make them like him anymore. If I was lucky enough to acquire any of his amazing qualities then I will cherish them always and pass them to those after me.

Our life has just settled in over the past few years and we have fallen in love with our "family" who became family through our life experiences. We are blessed to have amazing support from friends who have become so dear to us. Friends who have adopted our babies and loved them right along side of us. Friends such as Korissa and Jack.....who are expecting their first baby TODAY! I'm thankful that they can experience the joy of parenthood and continue to include us as a part of their lives. I really believe that it takes a village to raise a child and how lucky our babies are to have a village full of people who love them.

I'm thankful that this lil' monkey still sees fit to wake up each morning with a smile on his face and a hug for his mommy. He is a boy, through and through, and I've learned to accept the dare devil jumps from the couch, the rides down the stairs in laundry baskets and other scary "boy" behavior. In fact, I might even say I've learned to appreciate that he is fearless and so determined to live life at 100 miles an hour every-single-minute of the day. It is all a little bittersweet though--my last "first" everything is with him. So I spend my days wishing time would turn back a little so I can enjoy his baby/toddler years just a little slower. I'm sure he won't always come running when I walk in the door to daycare, but until it ends I will enjoy every second of it. (even if it means he gets doggy poo on me!)

Last, but certainly not least, I'm grateful for the man I share all of this with. Nine years strong and so many wonderful things to show for it. I'm thankful that he is the essence of calm in our home, that he isn't afraid to play babies with Zoie or wrestle with Kai, and that he never lets a day go by without telling me he loves me. Trust me, that is a feat in our house. With our schedules there are times we only see each other a matter of minutes in a day!

From my family to yours, have a Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Fun Filled Visits

We might not have Grandparents/Aunts/Uncles/Cousins close by, but what we lack in blood relatives we have made up for with some pretty amazing people who have come to mean quite a bit to us. I'm grateful they love our babies enough to visit, share time with them, sit through 3-hour plays and generally just love them like family. The last few weeks has been fun filled with special visits. We are missing pictures from a few: Gayla with a homemade apple thingy that I finished all by myself, The Dixon kiddos with arms full of cookies and popcorn balls and although they wouldn't let me take their picture--Dave and Becky Henderson who literally brought their entire kitchen to our cookie decorating party. Yum!

We're off to see the wizard......

Certainly one of the greatest benefits to raising your children in a small town is that they are encouraged to become part of the community atmosphere. Nothing shows that more than the Davis County Fine Arts winter play, The Wizard of Oz. Zoie, along with 80 other children, auditioned for a part in the play. She was lucky enough to land a part as a munchkin and has been working hard ever since. And I do mean hard. So much work goes into this play--from the 72 costumes which were handmade by local volunteers to the hours of working with adults and 40 kids! It all came together for the first show last night, which if you ask me, was one of the coolest things I have ever seen. Zoie was so proud of herself and her castmates last night. That made me proud of her. They are exhausted already (the play is 3 hours long!) and still have three more performances to go this weekend but she wouldn't miss it for the world. A huge thanks to Michelle Williams, the director, for bringing this experience into Zo's life and for putting on a show we will remember for some time to come.

I'm THREE!!!

Hi friends of my Mommy and Daddy! My name is Kai Anthony Woods and I just turned 3 a few weeks ago! I had so much fun celebrating with all my friends and family so I thought I would share a few pics of my big day. One awesome gift I opened with a weight bench--Just like my Daddy's bench!

Just a few times using the weight bench and look at my massive muscles!
Muscles are a must for my super-hero days. I'm loving Thor right now-mainly because he rocks a huge hammer that makes noise when I hit it. Oh, and because I love anything I can hit, throw, kick (you get the picture)!
I sort of like hammin it up for the camera, especially in my purple/leopard shirt. Chicks dig it. My Daddy, however, does not. :)

Me and Monty the Mustang rockin it together.....cause that's just how we roll.

I went to watch my sister cheer for the football team. I wore my pink shirt cause I think real men can wear pink and still be super cool.
My Mommy started my birthday with french toast on my special birthday boy plate. Yummy!!

I love, love, love the DS I got for my birthday. I'm actually pretty good at it too!On my actual birthday my parents took me camping at Grandpa Dick and Grandma Linda's farm house. AND....I got to go fishing!
Those are the highlights of my third birthday. I'm pretty lucky because I have so many people who love me. Even the ladies at Walmart that I randomly call Grandma love me! See you soon! Love, Kai

Big Girl Zoie

And just like that.....she is in first grade. Where did my little girl go? She is now a young lady fully immersed in gymnastics, Wizards of Waverly Place, playing with her new haircut and, of course, dogs. She has soccer practice next week, auditions for the local community play and lots of other fun things to do. Here's to hoping her first grade year is filled with fun, laughter, learning and love. (sorry for the quality of the picture...she was only game for one!)

Summer 2011

Forgive me for the plethora of photographs but it is entirely necessary to adequately show our summer...

Wow...what haven't we done this summer? First and foremost, I feel so blessed that we have been able to have this summer together. Sometimes it seems life passes so quickly that work, baths, dinner, etc.. eat up our time together. For the first time ever, we took to the road and had some fun.

First we drove (yes, I said drove) all the way to Pennsylvania to Nana Janet and Tom's house. My mom, step-dad, sisters and their families are all there. We had fun at the zoo, shopping, boating and having a dock party. The kids even fished with nets. Trust me--they think that was pretty cool.

On the way home the kids were so amazing in the car we stopped at the children's museum in Iowa City, the pet store to hold puppies, Adventureland and the mall for some fun.

Last, Ryan and I got some much appreciated "alone" time in Des Moines for a day or two which is always fun. Bring on the Dos Rios cheese dip and jalapeno margaritas!

In all seriousness, I think often about the years ahead when our kiddos won't think going on vacation with us is cool anymore. Until then, I'm grateful that they still relish in our attention and can have fun as kids. The next few weeks will bring Ryan back to work full-time, Zoie beginning her first grade year and HOPEFULLY Kai using the potty! How cool will life be when we don't have to buy diapers anymore!

ps...the jetski is a ride Kai had to go on with some friends of my mom and then we won the Spiffy award in town for having a pretty yard in July. Pretty fun considering our yard was far from pretty for the past year or so.

July 4th, 2011

We spent the 4th in Creston and Chariton this year. Ryan was in the parade in Creston to celebrate the 20 year anniversary of 41 straight wins for the baseball team. He was excited to catch up with some old friends. The kids got lots of outside time, took in a parade, the carnival in Chariton and one very scary flea market! Look how big they are getting......

Almost Summer!!

Wow--where did the school year go?? Tomorrow is Zo's last day of school and then a summer full of junior golf, gymnastics, swim lessons and fun! We are all excited for the nice weather! Here are a few updates from the past few weeks.....

Mr. Kai-man rockin his new shades...

Zoie--less two front teeth! She lost them both in a matter of two days. The tooth fairy was busy here!

We always run Race for the Cure Mother's Day weekend. After serving as co-chair for a few years I appreciate being able to actually run in it again. It was super weather and everyone had fun.

Tradition is that Dick, Linda and usually Brennen join us. This year Brennen had to work (man he is growing up fast!) so we welcomed Grandma and Grandpa. A huge thanks to them for pushing the kids so Ryan and I could run like the wind! Just kidding...we ran but not sure if it was like the wind or not. Ryan did place 4th in his age group and I got 2nd.

Ready for some sun, pool time and friends!

Zo ready for school. She didn't really want to go because Nana Janet and Tom drove in from Pennsylvania for the weekend but since Ryan is the principal we figured it didn't look very good to let her skip. :) Yeah, okay--I thought it was ok and he nixed it. He is smarter than I am sometimes.

My mom made these insanely awesome cake pops (like candy coated cake on a stick) while she was here. They were unreal! Then we had a wonderful visit from the Lindberg family with a May Day flowers and got to share them with all the kids. They were a hit! So were the May Day flowers! Thanks Jodi and the rest of the Lindberg fam!